Al Kyder: Virgin on the ridiculous

By Jano Gibson

August 18, 2006 — 11.04pm

It's a prank Bart Simpson would be proud of. After several controversial stunts, including trying to flog knuckle-dusters outside a Bulldogs rugby league game and approaching the Prime Minister, John Howard, with an over-sized axe, ABC TV's Chaser boys have struck again.

The pranksters pulled off a stunt at Sydney Airport on Wednesday which saw Virgin Blue staff make a "final boarding call" announcement for five late passengers, including one which sounded suspiciously like Mr Al Qaeda and another which sounded like Mr Terrorist.

Less than a week since UK and US authorities foiled a plot to blow-up mid-air trans-Atlantic flights, The Chaser's War on Everything decided to test domestic airport security in the most "puerile" way possible.

Advertisement

The satirical show's executive producer, Julian Morrow, said two tickets were booked online under the names "Mr Al Kyder" and "Mr Terry Wrist" for an 8.30am Virgin Blue flight from Sydney to Melbourne.

He picked up the boarding passes using the airline's self-serve computers, which do not require proof of photo identification.

Then, after deliberately failing to board the plane, an announcement was made over the airport's loud speaker system.

Mr Morrow said: "We've been following the media coverage about airline security and, in particular, whether domestic security is lighter, and we thought we would test that in the most puerile way that we could."

"We are giving Bart Simpson a writer's credit on the show," he said, referring to the cartoon character's penchant for prank calls.

Virgin Blue described The Chaser's stunt as "childish humour" but said security was never at risk.

"The Chaser guys could do well with using spell check. Using names that could be genuine such as Al Kyder and Terry Wrist is hardly going to spark a global security alert, especially considering everyone goes through the same stringent security procedures," the airline's spokeswoman, Amanda Bolger, said.

"They obviously have Bart Simpson as a consultant and while we are happy to take the $282 taxpayer dollars they spent on the bookings, we don't think in the current climate, their childish humour is appreciated by anyone."

Mr Morrow said the prank was approved by ABC management and was obviously meant in jest.

"I also assume that using a joke name is not really high up there in the list of serious terrorist strategies."

Earlier this month, The Chaser's Craig Reucassel approached John Howard during his morning walk with an over-sized axe - a reference to an incident in which a school boy hugged the Prime Minister while holding a screwdriver.

Mr Howard saw the funny side of the situation and accepted a hug from Mr Reucassel.

In July, The Chaser's Chas Licciardello was charged with offensive behaviour after a stunt in which he tried to give away fake knuckle-dusters, an imitation knife and flares to fans outside a Bulldogs versus St George Illawarra NRL game.